Wow, it’s been nearly a month since I last posted. So much going on, can’t pick just one, two or three. But there is something I’d like to share, it’s MAKERS. “MAKERS: Women Who Make America” (a production of Storyville Films) is just one part of the story. That’s the complete title of a new mini-series that will premiere on PBS stations February 26.
“MAKERS: Women Who Make America” is a 3-hour overview of the women’s movement in America, it’s key players, and pivital moments from the 1950s to the present day. One can debate who did what, when, where and the impact. For example who really blew the whistle that forced Anita Hill that forced the Senate Judiciary Committee to reopen the confirmation hearing for Clarence Thomas in 1991? Giving total credit to the women in Congress makes for a consistent narrative of women, politics, and power, but the messenger was NPR’s Nina Totenberg. The coverage of the hearing won NPR a George Foster Peabody Award. Anita Hill wrote a book and went back into academia. And Clarence Thomas is Justice for life on the U.S. Supreme Court.
There are great stories told, but 3 hours is insufficient to explore sex, race, class, from so many women’s perspectives and experiences from the last 5 decades. But where MAKERS loses time in broadcast, it more than makes up for with the MAKERS website featuring testimonials from many American “maker” women. The MAKERS website (www.makers.com) is a collaboration between AOL and PBS. Commercial and public media can peacefully coexist, and it makes for a wonderful partnership. The site aims to be the largest video collection of women’s stories. They are contemporary stories even though some of the women featured have joined the ancestors. Thank goodness they didn’t go silently into the night.
Friday, March 1 at 2 PM ET (11 AM PT) I’ll be hosting a social screening of the first hour of the documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America” with two makers:
Barbara Smith is a feminist writer, critic, teacher, and author who co-founded Kitchen Table Women of Color Press, the first U.S. publisher of women of color. Have you read This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (a KP classic). Even used, it’s selling for $92 on Amazon. Barbara Smith is currently serving her second term as a member of the Albany Common Council.
Amy Richards is co-founder of the Third Wave Foundation. She’s written several books including Manifesta, Grassroots and Opting In. She’s also written for major publications including the New York Times, Bitch, The Chicago Tribune, and also has her own “Ask Amy” column on Feminist.com.
You can join the social screening by clicking on this link for OVEE (online video engagement experience): https://ovee.itvs.org/screenings/j0cnk
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Here are their MAKERS videos from the makers.com website. Browse through more interviews. Making Up takes time.